The new 62-point constitutional package, announced by the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) on Saturday, raises more questions than it attempts to answer about the kind of political structure Pakistan should have.
Some of the amendments proposed in the constitutional package — such as the removal of presidential power to dismiss government and Parliament at will under the controversial article 58(2B), raising the age limit for retirement of Supreme Court judges by three years, and the revival of the Council of Common Interest (CCI) — are indeed long overdue.
However, the proposal to fix the tenure of office of the Supreme Court chief justice to three years will be a major stumbling block in the passage of the constitutional amendment bill, which Asif Zardari and his Pakistan People’s Party intend to bring before the Parliament in June, or after the budget session at the end of July or August.
The principal campaigner for Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry’s restoration in office, Aitzaz Ahsan, who is also Supreme Court Bar Association president, has already registered his opposition. “It is not acceptable to us,” he told a cheering crowd at a lawyers’ convention in Faisalabad on Sunday. Lawyers seem to agree with him as the convention, scheduled for Saturday evening, took place in the early hours of Sunday morning for two reasons: First, the chief justice’s convoy reached the city from Islamabad after a 10-hour delay and, secondly, torrential rains disrupted arrangements for the gathering.
It was clear from the procession taken out by the deposed chief justice and his supporters that they were determined to show their strength to the PPP, Zardari and the prime minister that they disliked the intention to reduce the tenure of the chief justice to a mere three years, which means that even if restored, Chaudhry would retire on June 30 this year, whereas his original term would have continued till 2012.
What was significant, however, was that PPP workers, ministers or even flags and banners were conspicuously missing from the procession or the convention site in Faisalabad. Jamaat-e-Islami, Tehreek-e-Insaf, and other political parties opposed to President Pervez Musharraf were there in large number, but the PPP had distanced itself from Chaudhry or its own active party member, Aitzaz Ahsan.
Another redeeming feature of the situation is that the storm generated by Zardari’s remarks to remove Musharraf from presidency seems to have petered out. At his latest press conference on Saturday, Zardari again spoke against the president saying he wanted Musharraf to make way for others. But later the PPP must have realized that confrontation with the presidency would be harmful for it rather than beneficial.
On Sunday, therefore, Prime Minister Yusaf Raza Gilani told a meeting of editors that he had great respect for Musharraf and would work with him. Simultaneously, some of the PPP stalwarts emphasized in private that the party needed to work with the president rather than to impeach him.
However, some of the proposed amendments, such as withdrawal of the president’s power to appoint army, navy or air force chiefs, and also provincial governors, would annoy Musharraf. True, in parliamentary democracy the president is a mere figurehead. The prime minister wields the real authority. Yet the president, as head of state, has certain powers, which even the framer of the 1973 constitution, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, did not withdraw. The president will have to consult the prime minister, but that is all in the matter of appointing key positions.
Also, the issue of judges’ reinstatement has been tactfully evaded by Zardari. He knows that Nawaz Sharif, who pulled back his ministers from the federal Cabinet on the issue of the restoration of judges on April 30, will not agree to limiting the tenure of office of the chief justice, and secondly, no date has yet been fixed for the amendment bill to be moved; the fact that 62 different clauses have to be debated, means that most likely it may take months for the National Assembly to pass the bill.
Also, the Senate does not give two-thirds majority, even if PPP or PML(N) strength is combined. The Senate, therefore, can block the passage of the bill. If the Pakistan Muslim League (Q) of Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain decides to support Zardari, it may bargain over certain important issues which, again, will be a time-consuming process.
It appears that Zardari has cleverly camouflaged the proposals to buy time and help revive the deteriorating image of his party among the masses. The nationalists and smaller provinces may like to look more deeply into the issue of autonomy. The bill seeks to banish a concurrent list of subjects to be implemented jointly by the central and provincial governments. So far, however, there has been no word on meeting the demands of the provinces. They have been denied their rights for 60 years now. Provinces will not like to sit idly by when a bill that fails to provide them iron-clad guarantees against exploitation by the center or by a majority province is passed.
In short, the crisis of confrontation looks to be fizzling out, but graver and more important issues have surfaced which need to be analyzed carefully.
— Salahuddin Haider is a political analyst. He is based in Karachi.
